The Rules
by Shinoko
Summary: He wasn't someone who she would normally notice, but over the course of time, Hermione found herself noticing that George as more than just the older brother of her best friend. Not that she'd ever admit it.
1. Part 1: The Rules of Attraction

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**Part 1: **The Rules of Attraction  
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If Hermione had to be perfectly honest with herself, she had to admit that the first time she had noticed him was right after the disastrous Yule Ball of her fourth year. Well, that's not to say she hadn't noticed him before, but she hadn't really _noticed _him as anything more than the older brother of her best friend.

She had stormed up to the girls' dormitories after telling Ron off that if he didn't like the fact that she had gone to the ball with someone else, he should have asked her out first, and not as a last resort. None of the other girls in her dorm room had returned yet, which was just as well. She didn't think she could handle them at the moment. Not when she felt like bursting into tears at Ron's ability to be a total prat. She didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment, preferring instead to throw herself down on her bed and bury her face in her pillow. She let out a muffled sound halfway between a scream and a sob.

And that was when he walked into her room, as if going into girls' dormitories was something he did every day. She would have thought it was one of her idiotic roommates at first, if it hadn't been for the fact that he walked right up to her and began talking.

"You should give him one of these," he said, holding something in his hand. His voice startled her, and she quickly shifted positions so she was sitting up in her bed, furiously wiping away any tears that might have spilled. He held out a sweet wrapped in yellow cellophane for her, smiling. "Canary Cream, so everyone can see just how yellow he really is."

Hermione reluctantly took the sweet from him, and gave him a questioning look. "How did you get up here? The stairs are supposed to turn into a slide whenever a boy tries to climb them."

He chuckled. "You know us. No challenge is too great for a Weasley twin."

Hermione slowly nodded, looking at the Canary Cream in her hand. "So, er, where is your twin? I've never seen one of you without the other."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Fred's still out with _Angelina_," he said. His tone of voice sounded light-hearted enough, but Hermione could tell there was some bitterness behind it.

She frowned. "What about your date? Who did you go with?"

He sighed exaggeratedly. "Alas, my forbidden romance with the giant squid was not meant to be. McGonagall said there was no way I could take the squid to the ball, as the tank alone would take up half the Great Hall. So I went alone." He shrugged. "That, and I think the squid's been cheating on me with Filch's cat." He smiled.

Hermione laughed. "You _would _try to take the giant squid to the ball."

George smiled. "What, you think I wouldn't have if I could have?"

Hermione looked down at her hand, which still held the Canary Cream. "Your brother's a prat," she said, stating the obvious.

George shrugged. "I'd ask 'which one', as you could be referring to any of them for any number of reasons, but we both know which one you mean." He placed a finger under her chin, gently lifting her head up so she'd look at him. "Use it well. You deserve better. You deserve someone who's not going to make you cry." He smiled at her again, and turned away, walking back to the door.

"George?" Hermione said, standing up. He paused briefly, glancing over his shoulder. She smiled at him. "Thanks."

He gave her a mock salute, smiling. "Anytime, Granger."

Yes, that was probably the first time she'd really noticed him. There had been no reason for him to follow her up to her dorm room, or to try to cheer her up. And he had succeeded in cheering her up when all she had wanted to do before was scream or cry or both. Instead, she had laughed and smiled.

After that, there were times when they were sitting in the common room when she'd occasionally find herself looking over in his direction, if only to watch him as he laughed and joked with his friends. She would be careful not to let anyone catch her looking over at him, of course, and if anyone ever asked, she'd tell them that she was just keeping an eye out for the twins to make sure they weren't up to any mischief. After all, they were notorious troublemakers, and she had a reputation for being straight-laced and uptight. There was no doubt she'd make prefect the next year. Still, she carried the Canary Cream he had given her around with her constantly.

She finally used it one morning at breakfast in the Great Hall one day in April. The night before, Ron had been especially insufferable, expecting her to do his homework for him. "Look at all the homework I've got!" he'd said. "There's no way I can get it all done in one night! And you enjoy doing that sort of thing, anyway."

She had snapped at him that it was his own fault for letting his homework pile up the way it had, but eventually relented. It wasn't because she wanted to, but it was because she was just so tired of the same argument. She wasn't just some brainy little bookworm that had nothing better to do with her time. But even after she relented, he didn't bother to thank her. Instead, he said, "That's our Hermione." And then he went off to somewhere or another, leaving her alone with her homework as well as his.

She wasn't sure what time it was when she had finally finished, but she knew that sometime around ten she had taken a brief break to stand up and stretch out. It was then that she caught George watching her with a questioning look. He didn't have to say anything, but she knew he was wondering why she put up with it. She had to wonder that herself.

So the next morning at breakfast, under the guise of 'apologizing' to Ron for snapping at him the night before, she gave him the Canary Cream as a 'peace offering'. For a few baited seconds she waited as he ate the sweet, and then joined in with the laughter of the rest of the Great Hall as Ron turned into a giant canary. Later during that same breakfast after Ron had turned back to normal, she glanced down the Gryffindor table to where the twins were sitting. George glanced back at her, smiling. Maybe it was her imagination, but it looked to her like he'd winked at her. Feeling courageous, she winked back.

As her fourth year drew to a close, there hadn't really been much more contact between them, although she'd sometimes find herself looking in his direction in the common room. She noticed that with increasing frequency, George would only be hanging out with Lee, as Fred began to hang out with Angelina more and more. And even then, sometimes Lee would take off to be around Alicia. If Hermione's roommates Lavender and Parvati were to be believed, Lee and Alicia were an item. Whether it was true or not, George would often head back up to his dormitory if Alicia or Angelina approached. Sometimes, Hermione felt like following him, but couldn't think of a single good excuse she could give, so remained where she was.

The summer between her fourth and fifth year, she had stayed at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius Black's childhood home was a gloomy place, although everyone tried to make the best of it. During the day, they would try to clean up the dark and dusty abode, throwing out anything that Sirius did not want to keep, and trying to get some of the grime cleared away.

It was one night towards the end of July that they had decided to play a game of Truth or Dare. She, Ginny, Ron, and the twins were gathered in the twins' room. There were a few open bottles of Firewhisky that were being passed around 'to loosen lips and lower inhibitions'. Hermione did not approve of that one bit, and made her opinion very well known. Still, she took a few drinks after Ron accused her of being 'too uptight'. She didn't drink enough to get drunk, but she did feel the alcohol's effects as the game progressed. She supposed that she would blame the alcohol for some of the things she did during the game, such as daring Fred to declare his undying love for Professor Snape next time the Potions professor was at headquarters, or forcing Ginny to admit that yes, the younger girl had kissed Neville Longbottom at the Yule Ball, but it was awkward and they both decided not to pursue anything beyond friendship.

It should have come as no surprise to her when Ginny later dared Hermione to kiss one of the guys in the room. "And not just a simple peck on the cheek," Ginny said, eyes twinkling devilishly, "I'm talking a real kiss, with tongue action. A French kiss."

Hermione froze. According to the rules of the game, one could not back out of a dare. She would have to kiss one of the guys. But which one, was the question? Even though it was just a game, she had no desire to kiss Fred. He was with someone, anyway, and game or not, that could just be awkward. She could kiss Ron, but when he made a face and turned to Ginny, saying that was gross because Hermione was like another sister, Hermione made up her mind. She crawled to the middle of the circle, acting like she was going over to Ron…

And then turned to George, who was sitting next to Ron. She placed her hands on his shoulders and brought herself closer to his very surprised looking face. Closing her eyes, she placed her lips against his. It wasn't as if she had never kissed before. She had kissed Viktor Krum last year, but hadn't really enjoyed it as much as she thought she would. He was just too rough and harsh.

Kissing George was different. His kiss was gentle, almost shy. That he was a bit tentative at first came as little surprise, since he probably hadn't expected her to kiss him. Still, he kissed her back, softly placing his hands on her sides as she wrapped her arms around him. She hesitantly flicked her tongue against his, tasting him. He tasted of Firewhisky and cinnamon, as well as something sweet she couldn't quite put her finger on. She felt him deepen the kiss slightly, moving his tongue against hers.

The sound of whooping and laughter brought them back to reality. She pulled away from him, blushing furiously. She had almost forgotten where they were, and that there were other people in the room. Fred cracked some joke about how they should get a room, which only made her blush harder. For the rest of the night, she spent most of her time looking at the floor unless forced to look at someone. At no point of time would she look at George, as she needed to regain control of her flushed cheeks at some point of time.

The next morning as they were getting ready for breakfast, Ginny had apologized for the dare, saying that she had thought that Ron and Hermione had a thing for one another, and was trying to help them along.

"Ron is one of my best friends," Hermione said. "I don't appreciate him taking me for granted, but he's just a friend."

Ginny contemplated that for a moment as she ran her hairbrush through her hair. "Yeah, but why George? That's a bit arbitrary, don't you think?"

"Not really," Hermione said, pretending to be absorbed with tying her shoelaces. "I don't want to lead Ron on to believe I feel anything more than friendship towards him, and Fred already has a girlfriend…" She let her voice trail off. She couldn't admit that part of her had _wanted _to kiss George Weasley, even if she hadn't realized it quite yet at the time.

After that, there was a sort of unspoken rule between them not to mention the kiss again. Hermione had been half-afraid that Fred and George would tease her about it mercilessly, but neither of them ever mentioned it. Well, Fred seemed like he was going to a couple of times, until he was elbowed by George. Ron seemed like he was pretending that it never happened, and Ginny had the tact not to bring it up again. As the summer drew to a close, Harry came to Grimmauld Place as well, and the kiss between Hermione and George was never mentioned.

As her fifth year began, she threw herself into her studies, prefect duties, and knitting hats for the house elves, trying to forget about that night. She was a plain, ordinary bookworm, and had standards to keep up, after all. Not even a few days into term, Ron was falling back into his old habits of expecting her to 'help' him with his homework, by wanting her to do most of the work. He apparently had not learned his lesson.

It also seemed that her so-called friends had not remembered her birthday again, as not one of them wished her a 'happy birthday' or anything when September 19 came around. She didn't expect anything in the way of presents or a card or anything, but an acknowledgement would be nice. Harry was excused, as he was rather distracted with his detentions with Professor Umbridge, but Ron had no excuse, aside from acting like an insensitive prat. Why, after dinner, he once again had asked her to 'help' him with his homework, to which she coolly replied by gathering her belongings and heading back to her dormitory. It was then she noticed that on her bed, there was a small box, wrapped in what appeared to be bright yellow wrapping paper with a purple bow. There was a card attached to it, which she curiously read after setting down her belongings.

'For those who need to be taught a lesson,' the card read. There was no name written down to indicate who it might be from. Unwrapping the present, she laughed when she saw the box contained six wrapped Canary Creams. Two of them were used the very next day during lunch on Ron and Harry.

Her prefect duties would often call her outside of the common room, but she was still there often enough to notice that Angelina and Alicia were hanging out with Fred, George, and Lee, often times with their friend Katie in tow. From the gossip packed conversations she would overhear between Lavender and Parvati, it seemed that sometime in mid-October, Katie had been seen snogging with George somewhere in the proximity of the Astronomy tower. When Hermione had heard the news, it felt like someone had stuck an icy dagger into her heart.

She didn't know why she felt that way. After all, there wasn't anything going on between her and George. It certainly wasn't as though she _liked _him or anything. But some small part of her wished that it had been her seen snogging with George in the proximity of the Astronomy tower. Not that she ever would snog him there, as everybody knew that was the first place that professors and prefects checked for amorous students. And it's not like she would be snogging him in the first place, as he was the older brother of one of her best friends, and dating the siblings of your friends was one of the biggest dating no-no's, according to Lavender and Parvati, whose inane conversations were a fount of useless information.

One night towards the end of October, though, as she was returning to the common room from patrol duty, she took pause as she was halfway through the portrait hole. In the center of the common room, Angelina and Katie were standing in front of Fred, screaming at him for tricking them both, with Angelina throwing in a few choice comments about him being a 'two-timing expletive deleted'. And she actually had said the words 'expletive deleted' before elaborating on just what expletives she had deleted.

As Hermione slowly stepped into the common room, letting the portrait close behind her, she glanced to George, who was standing close to the portrait hole, watching the scene with an amused grin on his face, but looking like he was ready to run at any moment if he had to.

"I'd thought it strange," he said to her, watching the screaming girls in the center of the room with an eyebrow raised, "when I'd heard someone say they saw me snogging Katie by the Astronomy tower. I didn't think much of it at first, figuring someone had an overactive imagination, since I've never kissed Katie, and don't think of her in that way. Plus, I know of a much better place to snog than the _Astronomy tower _of all places. Who snogs there, anyway? And then I realized that Fred there's been a rather naughty boy, pretending to be me."

Hermione glanced to him, and then to the scene, which looked like it could turn very ugly, very quickly. Angelina and Katie were now screaming at one another, while Alicia had jumped into the fray, trying to prevent the girls from fighting each other. It was only a matter of time before the girls would turn back on Fred, who was laughing.

"Aren't you going to break it up, Granger?" George asked.

She glanced to him. "What's this all about, anyway?"

He chuckled. "Apparently Fred's been two-timing Angelina with Katie by pretending to be me. Unfortunately, he failed to let me in on that little fact. He'd apparently set up a date to sneak off somewhere with Katie, but neglected to mention that to me. So imagine my confusion when we were all sitting there, and Katie suddenly starts asking me where we were sneaking off to, and what time we were leaving. I had no idea what she was talking about. And then she asked me what happened to the cut on my hand." He turned to Hermione. "Fred cut his hand in Herbology on Monday. Nothing major, but you can still see it as a nice red scratch going from his thumb to his index finger. I've got no such cut. That's when Fred's grand two-timing scheme fell apart, as the girls realized what was going on. I don't think either girl is very happy with him right now."

Hermione raised an eyebrow as Fred ducked a hex sent his way by Angelina, only to dodge another sent by Katie. "I can see that," she said sardonically.

George nodded solemnly. "I figure it's only a matter of time before they realize I'm here, and find some way to pin some of the blame on me. For 'letting it happen' or some rot like that. So as interesting as this is, I'm heading out now."

Hermione glanced at him. "It's almost ten o'clock. You're not supposed to leave the common room after nine," she pointed out.

George smirked. "You can report me for roaming the corridors after hours if you want, but I'd rather face a month's worth of detention than the wrath of Angelina and Katie. See you around, Granger." He said, waving once as he exited the common room through the portrait hole.

Hermione laughed, shaking her head. She knew she should report him, but honestly didn't feel like it. From the sounds of things, it probably would be safer for him to disappear for a short while. At least until Angelina and Katie could be calmed down. For a brief instant, she wondered where Ron was and why he wasn't doing anything to break up the argument, as he was a prefect as well, and should not have let things escalate to the point they had. She glared as she noticed him across the common room, ignoring the scene while trying to hold on a one-sided conversation with Harry, who was watching the fight with concern. Sighing, Hermione entered the fray to attempt to break things up.

It wasn't until later that she wondered why George had bothered explaining the situation to her. Was it just some sort of elaborate joke to play upon her pity so she wouldn't report him as he snuck off to Merlin knows where? Except the fight was just too real to be a hoax. No, she honestly believed that George had no part in perpetrating the events, except for as a not-so-innocent bystander that happened to look almost exactly like the perpetrator.

Hermione couldn't pinpoint when exactly it was that she discovered when she could tell the twins apart. She knew that George had a freckle on the tip of his nose that Fred did not, but that wouldn't be noticeable unless one was looking for it. Fred was about half an inch taller, and George had a slightly deeper voice. Their personalities were different, too. Fred was far more impulsive than George was, while George was a bit more sensitive than his twin. Of course, that wasn't saying much, but at least George wouldn't have done something as disrespectful as pretending to be his twin in order to two-time.

As the first match of the Quidditch rolled around, Hermione was amazed that the Gryffindor team was able to pull through. Angelina and Katie had managed to salvage their friendship, although it was a bit strained. Still, the two girls agreed on their mutual disgust at Fred, who nobody on the team was really speaking to on friendly terms. Well, Ron and Harry were, but Alicia firmly stood by her friends in their disgust. George seemed to be wavering between giving his twin the silent treatment over having his name dragged into such an endeavor, and joking around with him as if nothing ever happened.

Personal drama aside, the Gryffindor team did play rather well in their first match. Well, Ron's nerves started giving him fits, especially after the Slytherins began singing an abhorrent song about him. Still, the match wasn't all that bad. Hermione realized just how attractive a certain Beater was as he flew around the pitch, the wind whipped through his hair. George had to hit a bludger away from the Gryffindor stands at one point, and as he did so, Hermione could see from the way his robes clung to him that he had some nicely developed muscles. Nothing too big, but somewhere just about right. It was strange, though. Even though they were identical, Fred didn't strike her as being as attractive as his twin. She supposed that was just one more difference of theirs.

In the end, Gryffindor won the match, and Harry, George, and Fred got a really raw deal from Umbridge, who banned them from Quidditch for fighting with Malfoy after the match. True, they shouldn't have been fighting -- although technically Fred hadn't been fighting -- but a lifelong ban was going too far.

Their ban did seem to help out with the tension revolving around Fred, though. Hermione had noticed that George had seemed a little down after the fight between Fred, Katie, and Angelina. He didn't show it on the outside, but Hermione had noticed that George had been a bit off his game. His jokes weren't as funny, or as quick to come, but for all outward appearances he'd been the same. After the ban, there must have been some understanding struck, as Hermione noticed that the girls were hanging around with them in the common room again after that.

Towards the end of December, a few nights before term ended, Hermione could have sworn that she had seen Angelina and Fred holding hands. She just hoped that George wouldn't go back to feeling isolated. Katie had a boyfriend in Hufflepuff, some sixth year named Randal Stevens, and was meeting with him somewhere in the castle with greater frequency. Lee would often disappear with Alicia, and if Fred started disappearing with Angelina, then George was likely to disappear into his dorm room like he had last year. And then Hermione would be unable to study George, and just what it was that made him different than his twin.

She had decided that her fascination with George Weasley was like that a scientist would have with their chosen subject, because she certainly didn't _fancy _him or anything. So she started taking notes about what made George different than his twin, considering it a personal project of sorts. She already had about four sheets of parchment on the matter, and had only started the note taking earlier that month.

She had to stop her observations temporarily after overhearing Lavender and Parvati discuss the most recent issue of _Playwitch _magazine, which featured a pair of twins that worked in the magical construction business as that month's centerfold. She really could have done without hearing them talking animatedly about how one of them had a slightly larger package than the other, even though they were supposed to be identical twins, as that only made her wonder how big George might be, and that was a thought she could do without. She did not want to be mentally undressing him in the common room or anywhere else. Or worse, she did not want to be _caught _mentally undressing him.

Using her power as prefect, she confiscated the magazine in question from her roommates, stating that since neither of them were sixteen yet that they weren't supposed to have it and it would need to be turned in to Professor McGonagall. But after they had sullenly left the room in protest, she surreptitiously hid the magazine down in the bottom of her trunk. Turning in a magazine full of pictures of naked men would just be awkward, and just because neither of them were sixteen yet didn't mean that she wasn't.

Unfortunately, she had forgotten all about the magazine over the winter holidays, and when she was searching for something in her trunk that Ginny asked to borrow, she had pulled out the magazine inadvertently along with half the contents of her trunk.

"Whoa," Ginny said, picking up the magazine off the floor. "Hello, what's this?"

Hermione glanced over her shoulder, and then blushed furiously as she saw that Ginny held the most recent issue of _Playwitch _in her hands. "You're not supposed to have that," she said weakly as she crawled over to where Ginny was sitting, and held her hand out in an attempt to grab the magazine. "You're not sixteen yet."

Ginny held the magazine out of Hermione's reach. "I have six brothers. It's not like I've never seen a naked guy before."

Hermione lowered her arm. "Er, you haven't?"

Ginny shook her head. "Keep in mind they're my _brothers_, so don't count, but it's not like any of them could ever claim they'd never forgotten to bring a towel with them when taking a shower." She opened the magazine and flipped through the pages, not blushing in the slightest.

Hermione looked at Ginny curiously. "But I've stayed with you guys over the holidays. I've never…" She let her voice trail off.

Ginny chuckled, not looking away from the magazine. "Mum has made it clear that while she may be a little lax about it when nobody else is around, there is a house rule against strolling about naked, and she will have the hides of anyone who does so when you or Harry or anyone else is staying with us." She raised an eyebrow as she flipped to the centerfold. "Huh. Two for the price of one this month."

Hermione flushed, closing her eyes and thinking of another set of twins. Or rather, one of them. In her mind, she could envision George having just stepped out of the shower, water dripping down his nicely toned body, and realizing he forgot his towel. Her mind's eye slowly trailed down his body, picturing his solid pectorals, his washboard abdominals, and finally his rather large member, glistening with water droplets that slid down his length. She shook her head and opened her eyes, trying to clear away the mental image. She did _not _need to picture George Weasley as naked, especially when in the presence of his younger sister, who noticed things like that.

Ginny scoffed and closed the magazine. "I knew it. Nothing really interesting this month, either." She handed Hermione the magazine, and then smiled. "You're looking bright red, there. Thinking of anyone in particular?"

Hermione shook her head vehemently. "Of course not. Why would you think that?" She was lying, of course, and hoped that wasn't too apparent. She did not want Ginny wrangling it out of her that she had just envisioned the other girl's older brother naked.

Ginny didn't look like she believed her in the least, smirking playfully. "Anyone I know?"

Hermione just continued to shake her head, bright red. "It's nobody!" she denied.

Mercifully, Ginny let it go, changing the subject to one that was far more safe, although she continued to give Hermione knowing looks. Hermione tried to ignore the looks, figuring that Ginny did not know anything at all. The only reason at all that Hermione had envisioned George naked was because of the combination of their conversation, the copy of _Playwitch _magazine within arm's reach, and the fact that during her menstrual cycle, Hermione would often find herself a bit more hormonal that usual. The fact that it was George she envisioned meant absolutely nothing, as he was just the attractive older brother of one of her best friends, and she did not feel that way about him. He was the subject of a 'scientific' study of hers, which was probably why it was him who crossed her mind and not someone else.

Being secure in that knowledge made it a lot easier to face George during mealtimes at Grimmauld Place. The last thing she wanted was to act oddly around him, as someone would notice if she did. But she was able to act normally around him, if a bit distant. Then again, they'd never been close, so her aloofness wasn't too noticeable, she hoped. Well, Ginny did once give her a questioning look, but very little escaped the youngest Weasley's notice, and Ginny never did say anything.

Thankfully, once the new term began, she was able to throw herself back into her studies once more, forgetting all thoughts she might have had about naked redheads. The OWLs would be coming soon -- well, in June, which was still a few months away -- and Hermione wanted to make sure she did well on them. Plus, she still had her prefect duties, DA meetings, and hats to knit for the house elves, which all led to keeping her distracted. Eventually, she resumed her project on studying what set George apart from his twin, but only from a distance, and only when she knew she wouldn't be caught watching him. The last thing she wanted was for someone to think she fancied him, because she didn't. She was a prefect, and known as being prim and proper, and he was one of the biggest troublemakers in school.

The months passed along. As April rolled around, the DA meetings came to a screeching halt right before the Easter holidays after a meeting was raided by Umbridge, and Dumbledore left the school. The next day, Umbridge was appointed as Headmistress by the Ministry, and recruited students into her 'Inquisitorial Squad', who took pleasure in docking house points and generally making the lives of other students miserable, as Hermione discovered right before lunch when speaking with Ron, Harry, and Ernie MacMillan about their new Headmistress.

As they turned to the hour glasses that recoded the house points, they were approached by George and Fred, who warned them to go to the Great Hall for lunch so a professor would see them. Hermione couldn't help but wonder what they had planned, and had half a mind to follow them as they went off to execute their plan. However, she reasoned, as curious as she might be, it wasn't worth the risk of expulsion if they got caught. George and Fred might not care about such things, but she did. So she went to lunch.

She did have to admit, the fireworks the twins set off were wonderful. In the common room after dinner, she had gone up to them to tell them as such. She was in such a good mood that she was willing to skive off on her homework for that evening, something that undoubtedly shocked her friends Ron and Harry. As the crowd around George and Fred began to clear, and a dragon made of green and gold sparks soared past the window of the common room, she decided that maybe she should put her name down on the waiting list for Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs after all.

There were only a few students around them now, although the excited sound of laughter and cheers persisted in the common room. Hermione approached the twins just as the students around them turned to leave, having their names placed on the waiting list.

Fred raised an eyebrow as she approached them. "Change your mind about the waiting list, Hermione?" he asked, quill at the ready to take down her name on the clipboard he held.

She nodded and smiled. "I'm feeling a bit rebellious. Sign me up."

Fred chuckled, writing down her name. He then turned to a trio of second years who approached him about taking their names down as well.

George smiled. "I knew you'd crack someday, Granger," he teased. "Our bad influence was bound to rub off on you eventually."

Hermione shook her head in mock pity, still smiling. "You flatter yourself too much."

George made a sound of mock disappointment. "And here we'd been hoping that someone would carry on our legacy of rule-breaking and mischief making."

Hermione snorted. "Do you honestly think I'd do something like that?"

He shrugged, smirking. "Not really, no."

Hermione paused. She wasn't sure what compelled her to ask what she did next. Perhaps it was just because she was in a good and rebellious mood, but for whatever reason, she boldly asked him, "So where is this place you know of that's better for snogging than the Astronomy tower?"

George looked taken aback for a moment. But only for a moment. He folded his arms across his chest, looking at her shrewdly. "And why would you want to know something like that, Granger?"

Hermione looked away from him. It was bad enough she'd asked him that to begin with, but to have to explain why she asked him that… She didn't even know herself.

George chuckled. "Do you want me to show you where it is?"

Hermione glanced back up at him, mimicking his stance by folding her arms across her chest. "Sure, why not?"

George gave her a contemplative look briefly, before lowering his arms and poking Fred in the shoulder to get his attention. "We're gonna take off for a bit. You got a handle on things?"

Fred waved them off, smirking. "Don't do anything I wouldn't."

George scoffed and shook his head, turning back to Hermione. "Let's go, then."

Hermione found her heart racing as she followed George out of the common room. What had she been thinking when she asked him where the place was? What must he be thinking about her and her intentions? Did he think she had just asked him out somewhere to snog? What if he expected her to? Did she want to?

She had to admit that there was a small part of her that wanted to. Even though she tried to put it out of her mind, she still remembered kissing him over the summer holidays, and how his lips were surprisingly soft and gentle. If she were to be completely honest with herself, there was the _slight _chance that _maybe _she fancied him after all. Maybe. Except that he was the older brother of one of her best friends, and there was no possible way that he could ever see her as anything beyond that. She was the prim and proper bookworm prefect, and he was just so unlike her.

They made their way down to the fourth floor corridor, dodging a few escaped fireworks along the way. George stopped in front of a tapestry of Marline the Mental. He placed his hand in the center of the tapestry, demonstrating that there was a solid wall behind it. "Through here," he said, pushing aside the tapestry and walking through the wall.

Hermione blinked. Had he just walked through a solid wall? Curiously, she raised a hand to the wall. Instead of coming into contact with solid brick, her hand went through the wall. It must be like the barrier at King's Cross, she figured, walking through the wall and letting the tapestry flutter back into place behind her.

Beyond the tapestry and wall-that-wasn't was a room about the size of the sitting room at Grimmauld Place, and lit by torches on the walls. There were a few comfortable looking chairs and a couch spread out in the room, as well as a couple of small tables. Against one wall was a shelf stacked with bottles of Butterbeer. George stood in the center of the room, smirking.

"If you're thinking that you'll be able to bust couples here, don't bother," he said, walking over to the shelf of Butterbeer. "I don't think many people know of this room. Fred and I discovered it second year. It's not on any maps of the school or anything." He smiled, and Hermione got the reference at once. This room wasn't on the Marauder's Map.

George grabbed a couple of bottles and walked over to one of the chairs, sitting down and placing one of the bottles on a nearby table. He opened his bottle of Butterbeer and took a drink before gesturing her to do the same. "Sit down, relax, have a drink."

Hermione shook her head. "That's not why I wanted you to show me this place," she said, crossing the room tentatively. She grabbed the bottle of Butterbeer off the table, and sat down. "The bottle's cold," she said, glancing down at it. "Shouldn't it be at room temperature?"

George chuckled. "There's a chilling charm on the shelf. Why is it that you wanted me to show you this place, then? You don't plan on _using _it, do you?"

She didn't answer him at first, instead focusing on the bottle she held in her hands. Slowly, she removed the cap, and took a sip. "I don't know why I asked," she admitted after a long pause. She chuckled self-depreciatively, shaking her head. "Whim, I guess."

"See, I knew I was a bad influence on you." She looked over to George, who smiled. With an expression of mock disapproval, he continued, "It's only a matter of time before you start sneaking out of bounds for a number of illicit activities. Like starting illegal Defense Against the Dark Arts groups, or turning back time to save the lives of alleged mass murderers that happen to be innocent, or smuggling dragons illegally, or--" He stopped, grinning. "Oh, wait. You've already done those things."

Hermione laughed. "You give yourself far too much credit." She paused. "You never did explain how you can get into the girls' dormitories."

George smiled broadly, his warm brown eyes twinkling with mischief. "Ah, that. An ingenious method I came up with that involves a combination of a Sticking Charm, a trick wand, and a transfigured rubber chicken wearing a bra stuffed with potatoes." He paused, and then added, "It's best not to ask for details on that."

Hermione laughed. "When you put it that way, I really don't think I want to know. But why didn't you sign your name on the card you left when you gave me the Canary Creams for my birthday?"

He took a drink of his Butterbeer. "Because I knew you'd figure they were from me." He raised an eyebrow. "Ron must have been on good behavior this year, or else learned not to trust anything you give him."

Hermione shrugged, taking a sip of her own drink. "He'll slip up." She turned to him suddenly. "Why did you give me the Canary Creams for my birthday? How did you even know when it was?"

"The simple answer to both of your questions is Ron," he replied. "He can be a bit of a prat, and I overheard him telling Harry over the summer not to let him forget when your birthday was again this year."

"Why would you do something like that for me?" she asked.

He shrugged, and set his bottle of Butterbeer back on the table. "I told you before. You deserve someone who won't make you cry."

Hermione sighed. Why did everyone assume she liked Ron as anything more than a friend? "You do realize that I don't think of Ron that way, don't you?"

A look of surprise combined with something else she couldn't quite pinpoint crossed his face for a brief instant. He gave her a sidelong glance. "I suppose I know now. I mean, I had my suspicions, but now I know." He smirked. "And as Lee would say, 'knowing is half the battle'."

Hermione chuckled, getting the reference to the American cartoon from the 80's even if George didn't. "So who do you think I deserve, then?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

He shrugged. "Someone who'll make you smile," he said simply.

She wasn't sure why she asked her next question. Maybe she wanted to find out if there was even the slightest chance that he thought of her as anything more than his younger brother's best friend without admitting anything herself. Whatever the reason behind the question was, as George reached down for his bottle of Butterbeer, she asked, "Like who?"

George's hand froze in midair for a brief moment before he drew it back and turned to her and smiled. "You're smart, Granger. I'm sure you can figure that out."

Hermione studied his face for a few moments. She could tell that his smile was forced, as when he normally smiled, his cheeks would dimple slightly. But no dimples were present, indicating that he was faking a smile. But what reason would he have to do that?

George reached for his bottle of Butterbeer again, and took a drink. "Make sure to visit us sometime," he said. "We're probably going to be leaving within the next couple of weeks or so. Depends on how things go."

Hermione's insides froze. He was leaving so soon? She had a feeling he might, but hearing him actually say it made it seem more real somehow. "Why do you have to leave so soon?" she asked.

He shrugged. "We've got our shop location all ready for us to move in. We would leave now, but we want to try to stick it to Umbridge as much as we can. Leave with a bang." He paused. "Besides, what's the difference between us leaving now, or us leaving in a couple of months?"

Hermione looked at the bottle of Butterbeer in her hands. Any way she looked at it, this was his last year of school. She knew that, but had always thought she had a little more time before he left. Once he was gone, she'd have no reason to seek him out, and would likely only see him when staying over at the Burrow. There'd be no reason for them to maintain correspondence with one another, as they weren't close enough to be considered friends. "I don't want you to go so soon," she admitted, not looking at him.

His eyes were on her, watching her. "Why?" he asked.

Hermione felt her cheeks flush. It was bad enough, her confessing that she wanted him to stay. Did she really want to admit to him that she liked him? Would it make any difference if she did? "I just don't want you to, that's all," she said lamely, since it seemed like he was expecting an answer.

George scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That's compelling," he said.

She turned to him. "Well, what do you want me to say?"

George gave her a scrutinizing look, and then set his bottle of Butterbeer back onto the table. "Nothing, I suppose," he said after a long pause. He stood up, and walked across the room. He turned around and leaned against the wall. "A hag, a troll, and two leprechauns walk into a bar--"

"George," Hermione interrupted, setting her bottle down and standing up. She took in a deep breath. "Why did you bring me here?" She slowly began walking over to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet, Granger? I thought you were smart."

She froze in her tracks, her heart beating wildly. The way he phrased it sounded just like his response to her when she asked him who he thought she deserved. Was he trying to imply that he liked her?

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She had to make sure. "When you said I deserve someone who'll make me smile…" She opened her eyes, to meet his devilishly sparkling eyes. It was now or never. "Were you referring to yourself?"

George smiled, and peeled himself off the wall. "Figured it out at last, I see."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat, and she took a few tentative steps closer to him. He liked her. _Her_, of all people. "And you still plan on leaving?" she asked.

He nodded. "Our minds were made up a long time ago. And does it really make that much of a difference when we leave?"

She took a few steps closer to him. "It might," she said.

"And why's that?" he asked, tilting his head to one side as he watched her.

She stopped in front of him. "Because that really doesn't give us a lot of time."

George smiled. "The greatest thing about being your own boss is you can set your own hours. If you want to leave early, you can. And if you happen to be one such as myself, who knows all the secret passageways in and out of the castle…"

Hermione gave him a searching look. "Why me?"

"Why not?" he replied. "I can't explain the 'why' about it, and I'm not going to try. For whatever reason, I find myself captivated by you."

"But we're so different," she said.

"So?" he said, smiling slightly. "Maybe that's why. Opposites attract and all."

"Maybe they do…" Hermione said, taking a step closer to him and clearing the distance between them. She placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him down to her as she leaned up to him. His strong arms wrapped around her, and she placed her lips on his, kissing him softly. She brought her arms down along his back, pulling him closer to her as he kissed her back.

His kiss was still as gentle as she remembered, but his shyness had been replaced with a sort of tender wanting. As they kissed, she could hear the distant sounds of escaped fireworks still whizzing by in the hallways. _Fireworks indeed_, she thought as she felt his tongue flick against hers. She moved her tongue against his in response. He still tasted of cinnamon and something sweet.

After they eventually broke the kiss, Hermione placed her head against George's chest. She didn't know how things would work out from there, but figured that the details didn't really matter.

"You make me want to stay," he said, moving a hand along her back. "But I can't. I will come back, though."

Hermione smiled slightly, trailing a finger in circles along the back of his neck. "I wish you didn't have to go at all." She looked up at him. "Is there anything I can do to convince you to stay?"

George shook his head. "No," he said honestly. "But I'll come back, so long as you want me to." He smirked. "The coins for the DA… Maybe you could make another couple of coins like them for us. We would meet here, and you could let me know when you want to meet up or something."

She chuckled. "Pre-arranged snogging sessions. How very like you, George."

He smirked. "Well, I have been told that I have an irresistible body," he said cheekily. He paused for a moment. "Well, it might have been Fred who was actually told that by Angelina at one point of time last year, but we're identical, so the same should hold true for me, right?"

Hermione laughed. "There are differences between you two." At George's raised eyebrow, she continued. "You have a freckle at the end of your nose that he doesn't. You're also about half an inch shorter than he is, and have a slightly deeper voice--"

"I'm not shorter than he is," George protested.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, then. You slouch slightly in your stance, making it appear as though you're a bit shorter than him," she said that in a tone where it was obvious she was only humoring him. "Also, when you smile, your cheeks dimple slightly."

"I don't have dimples," George said matter-of-factly. "Dimples aren't manly."

Hermione scoffed playfully, smiling. "Really. Then what would you call them?"

George made an exaggeratedly thoughtful face, complete with a 'hmm'-ing sound. Hermione chuckled at his expression, and he grinned. "Would 'manholes' work?"

Hermione shook her head, laughing. "You do realize that manholes are the coverings over sewers, don't you?"

He shrugged, smirking. "Well, I have been told that I can have quite the potty mouth at times." He paused. "Never in front of a lady, though."

Hermione laughed. "And what if I want you to talk dirty in front of me?" she teased.

George pulled back from her slightly, looking at her with an expression of shock and amusement. "I'd wonder who you were, and what you've done with Hermione Granger."

She smiled. "And how do you know I don't have an inner bad girl or something?" she continued to tease.

He looked down at her, smirking. "Well, it always is the ones you'd least suspect. Which, I suppose, would make them the most likely suspects, who are usually innocent of whatever they're suspected of." He paused, looking confused. "But then how would that work? If someone was the last person you'd suspect of something, then that would mean they're usually guilty of what they're suspected of, so should be the most likely suspect, who's usually innocent--"

Hermione laughed as George confused himself, and pulled him down into another kiss. She could quickly become addicted to kissing him, she thought as he kissed her back.

For the next hour, they stayed there in the hidden room, eventually moving onto the couch. Hermione found that it was remarkably easy to talk to George. They talked, laughed, joked around, and teased one another, with the occasional kiss thrown in for good measure. Kissing him was quickly becoming a new favorite pastime of hers.


	2. Part 2: The Rules of Lust

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**Part 2: **The Rules of Lust  
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Even though Hermione didn't like it, she did understand why George planned to leave school before he would graduate. He was ready to go out into the real world and carry on with his joke shop plans with his twin Fred, and only remained at Hogwarts because he and Fred were trying to come up with the right way to make their exit. They never were the type to go out with a whimper; they had to leave with a bang. George did promise that he would sneak back into the castle to visit Hermione every now and then. She had no reason to doubt that, as that was just the crazy sort of thing that George Weasley would do.

George and Fred had been designing special sheets of parchment for students to use for passing notes in class. The parchments were connected to one another through magic. If you wrote something down on one sheet, it would appear on the other sheet as well. George and Fred knew they worked at short distances, as they had tested the parchments out in class, but he wasn't sure how far apart the two parchments could be before they stopped working. It reminded Hermione of the concept of instant messaging on a computer, and she told him as such. George, of course, had no idea what she was talking about, and told her as such with a confused look on his face. Hermione thought he looked rather cute when he was confused.

They decided that they weren't going to hide their relationship, but weren't going to advertise it either. Hermione found it rather amusing after George told her that he felt like he was stuck in a wonderful dream, and was afraid that he was going to wake up at any moment, or that she'd wake up and come to her senses. He had been just as afraid as she had been to admit his feelings to her, which was why he had been making attempts to get her to reveal her feelings to him first. It turned out that he had first noticed her back in his fifth year -- her third year -- but didn't realize just how it was he felt about her until around the time of the Yule Ball the next year. He figured that there was no way she could ever like someone like him, which was why he hadn't said anything. He let her in on the secret that 'Weasley men have a tendency to be clueless prats at times', and told her that if ever he acted like a total prat, to just hand him a Canary Cream and he would gladly take it. She had a feeling that she wouldn't have to. Well, not very often.

They went off on their first real date during the Easter holidays. While studying for her OWLs in the library one morning, George went up to her and asked her if she wanted to sneak off somewhere for the day. She was rather surprised at first, and told him that she had studying to do. Once she saw the exaggeratedly dejected look on his face, she changed her mind. She knew she had the material down already, and how often would they have the entire day to themselves? That, and the way he pouted to get his way made her laugh so hard that Madam Pince threatened to kick them out of the library.

She had to admit she was a little nervous sneaking through a secret passageway that led from Hogwarts to the cellar at Honeydukes, but it was thrilling at the same time. And walking single file through the narrow tunnel with only their wands to light the way did give her a rather nice view of his rather nice looking arse, which she was able to check out without worrying about being caught. Not that she did that or anything. Well, not too often at least.

Spending the day in Hogsmeade with him made her wonder why she had hesitated to do so in the first place. They checked out various shops, had lunch at the New Moon Café, which was located off the main road, and not a place frequented by students or teachers. She was actually surprised to find out that there was a wizarding equivalent of paintballing, and that there was a paintball range in Hogsmeade. Hermione was really glad that cleaning charms existed after they were done there, although she imagined that George was probably even more glad about it, as there was not a single inch of him that was not plastered with paint by the time they'd finished.

While walking down the main road, they'd had a close call when they saw Hagrid walking down the street. Thankfully, they were able to dart into an alley and hide before he spotted them, but they decided to take that as their cue to head back to the castle. They went back to Honeydukes, snuck their way into the cellar, and from there back to the castle.

She was glad that they had taken the time to go out on their first real date when they'd had the chance, as the first Monday after the Easter holidays, George's prediction that he'd be leaving Hogwarts became a reality. He and Fred gave Harry the opportunity to speak with his godfather through Umbridge's fireplace by creating a diversion in the form of a swamp that filled the east wing's fifth floor corridor. Unfortunately, they were cornered in the Entrance Hall by Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad. As Hermione watched on, she knew this was the moment. Sure enough, the twins summoned their brooms from Umbridge's office and rode off into the sunset. Even before they vanished from sight, Hermione found herself missing George already.

A few days after his glorious exit, which had already gone down in Hogwarts infamy, Hermione received an owl from George, letting her know that the shop was now open, business was doing great so far, he was in the process of moving into the flat above the shop, and that he missed her. Hermione was glad to hear from him so soon, and decided to test the enchanted parchment, asking if there was any possible way for them to meet up that night. A couple minutes later, she got his reply that he'd meet her in the secret room on the fourth floor around seven that evening.

As the OWLs grew nearer, Hermione grew more frantic in her studies. Meeting with George in what they referred to as 'their room' was often times the highlight of an otherwise hectic time. They both were rather busy, him with work and her with studies, but still found time to meet up with one another. They would talk and joke around, and Hermione was still addicted to kissing him.

She had been surprised to find that George was very much the gentleman when they kissed. For the most part, he kept his hands to himself, letting Hermione take the lead. It was as if he were afraid of scaring her away. It had taken a few weeks for him to muster the boldness to fondle her above her shirt. She supposed that she should probably do more to encourage him, as she wanted to feel his hands below her shirt. There was a lot more than that she wanted him to do.

Before the school year came to an end, a few days before the OWLs were to begin, Hermione did make him aware of her growing need. So far, everything had been above the waist, and above their clothes. That night, she mustered up the courage to venture below George's waist, feeling him over the fabric of his trousers. He had been rather surprised at her boldness at first, but things seemed to progress at a much more satisfying rate from there. As if following her lead, he finally brought his hands up under her shirt. While he still kept his hands above her bra, it was a start. Still, she almost wished she hadn't been wearing a bra that night.

Due to the general hecticness of the OWLs and the annual end-of-the-year showdown of good vs. evil, she wasn't able to meet with him in 'their room' since then. He did visit her and Ron briefly in the hospital wing as she was recovering from the curse she had received in the battle at the Department of Mysteries, but it was obvious nothing could happen between them there. Not when there was a regular bustle of visitors. And especially not when his brother Ron was staying in the hospital wing as well, also recovering from the battle. Well, she debated to herself on whether to pull George to her and snog him senseless in front of everyone, but ultimately decided not to. As funny as it might be to see Ron's reaction, she was injured and under strict orders to 'take it easy'. Still, George did peck her on the forehead before leaving, and Ron did see that, shooting them both curious looks as George departed.

Hermione and George weren't hiding their relationship, but they weren't going around telling people they were together. They weren't overtly obvious about their togetherness, either. They figured that if somebody asked them if they were together, they'd be honest about it. They just weren't going to volunteer the information. There were people who knew about them, Fred and Ginny being prime examples. Fred _was _George's twin, after all, and Ginny was just plain observant. Ron and Harry were just far too unobservant to have noticed anything.

Hermione was invited to the Burrow over the summer holidays between fifth and sixth year, although she did want to go home to spend time with her parents for a few weeks before going to the Burrow. Over the years, she found herself seeing less of them as she spent more time with the Weasleys. She realized that it wasn't very fair to them that she hardly ever saw them. She had planned to go skiing with them over the Christmas holidays, but had spent it at Grimmauld Place instead.

At King's Cross, she was glad to see George waiting for them, standing next to his twin, both of them wearing lurid green dragonskin jackets. Hermione half-wondered if he was color blind, and after greeting her parents and seeing that most everyone was distracted, turned to him and asked him just that, letting him know from her tone and expression that she was joking.

George chuckled. "Color blind? What makes you think that?"

Hermione smirked. "Because it's either that, or else you dress in the dark."

George laughed. "Maybe I just like bright things." He took a step towards her, glancing briefly to her parents talking to his. "You took a pretty nasty curse. Feeling any better?"

Hermione nodded, walking up to him. "Much better." She took one of his hands into hers. "I missed you," she said.

He smirked. "You missed being able to check me out all the time." At Hermione's raised eyebrow, his smirk grew wider. "I know. I'm irresistibly sexy."

Hermione laughed. "More like irredeemably hopeless," she said as she reached a hand up to the back of his head, pulling him down into a quick kiss.

She wished that she could kiss him for longer than she had, but considering that they were in a public place, and surrounded by their families, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. As it was, she was pretty sure that her mother had noticed.

Eventually, they all had to go their separate ways, although Hermione did promise George she would visit him at the shop over the summer. Once she and her parents got home, Hermione retreated to her room to unpack her trunk. During the course of unpacking it, she came across the long forgotten issue of _Playwitch _that had caused so many mental visualizations of George naked in the past. It seemed like such a long time ago. She still hadn't seen him without his pants on, but she wanted to.

She made sure the door was locked before she began to flip through the pages of the magazine. She'd never really looked through it before, except for the most cursory glance to give her a general idea of what things looked like down there. She'd seen illustrations, but photographs were different. The illustrations she'd seen had all been so _technical_, while the photographs in the magazine were meant to arouse. As she slowly leafed through the pages, she found herself picturing George's face on the models' bodies. The men in the magazine were of all sorts of sizes, some of them obviously under the effect of some engorgement charm, while some were what she could only suppose were more normal in size. As she got to the centerfold of the twins, her mind once more flashed to George. Unfortunately, though, she couldn't picture his face on one of them, without picturing Fred's on the other, and that was just awkward. She did not think of him that way, so flipped the page.

By the time she was done going through the magazine, her face was completely flushed. She was also definitely aroused, and strongly debating with herself on whether to use the enchanted parchment to contact George to help her with that. While she had been flipping through the magazine, she would let her mind wander to him, and let herself fantasize about him. She had only read about what having sex felt like. The first time was supposed to be painful, but the act was pleasurable for the most part. She knew her fantasies couldn't compare to the real thing, and it was physically impossible to do some of the things she'd thought of, but as much as she wanted to find out for herself exactly how he felt inside her, self-restraint and logic won out in the end. Even if she contacted him, there wasn't any way he could just drop everything he was doing, Apparate into her bedroom, and ravage her on her bed the way she wanted him to. Well, he _could_, but it was unlikely that he would. Instead, she had to settle for releasing her tension in other ways.

Later that evening, her mother cornered her to ask her about George. How long they'd been together, if he treated her right, that sort of thing that mothers concerned themselves about. She thankfully didn't ask how far they'd gone with one another, but did caution Hermione to be careful.

There were times when Hermione wished that she knew more witches. Having come to the realization that she wanted to have sex with George, she also realized that she should look up contraceptive charms or potions. Unfortunately, none of her books listed such things, although she knew they existed. There were probably books in the Hogwarts library she could look in, but she couldn't go there over the summer holidays. Her best course of action would be to ask a witch that would know things like that. Mrs. Weasley probably would, but asking her was out of the question. She might ask why, and that would lead to a rather awkward conversation. '_Yes, do you know of any contraceptive charms or potions? Why? I want to have sex with your son._' Even in her mind that sounded bad. Or if Mrs. Weasley had noticed Hermione kissing George at King's Cross, she might conclude on her own that was what Hermione was planning. Asking Ginny was completely out, for the same reason. Ginny knew that she and George were together, and would probably never let her hear the end of it.

She could always go to Flourish and Blott's, and find a book on the subject. She knew that there had to be something out there, as she had heard mention of such things before, mainly when overhearing the inane banter between Lavender and Parvati. If she were close to either of them, she might be able to owl them, but there were a few problems with that. First, she didn't have an owl. Second, she wasn't close to either of them. Third, they were notorious gossips, and it would probably be spread all over school before the new term even started that Hermione Granger was asking around about a contraceptive charm. She'd rather take her chances with Ginny, as she did have blackmail material on the other girl if it ever came down to it.

A few weeks into the holidays, she went to the Burrow to stay for the rest of the summer. She had to admit that it seemed strangely quiet without George and Fred there. Much to her disappointment, Mrs. Weasley was against anyone going to Diagon Alley now that You-Know-Who was back, especially alone, as Hermione wanted to do. She wanted the chance to go to their shop and see George.

Later in the evening of the night she arrived at the Burrow, she was sitting with Ginny in the younger girl's room. Ginny could tell there was something on her mind, but thankfully didn't press matters. Eventually, Hermione won the silent debate against herself.

"I have a question I want to ask you," Hermione said, "but before I do, you must swear not to repeat a single word to anyone. Living, dead, or imaginary." Ginny raised an eyebrow, and Hermione continued. "You are not to make a big deal of what I'm going to ask you in any way, shape, or form--"

Ginny laughed. "And what are you trying to ask me?"

Hermione gave her a serious look. "I still have copies of a certain series of photographs, as well as the negatives--"

"I swear not to repeat a word," Ginny said, looking amused. "Out with it."

Hermione took in a deep breath. She could feel her cheeks flush, and the floor looked very interesting. "I need information on contraceptive charms or potions," she muttered.

She didn't look at Ginny, but didn't have to look to know that Ginny was probably gaping at her with a shocked look on her face. For a few seconds, all was silent. Finally, Ginny spoke. "Oh. My. God. Are you having sex with my _brother_?!" she asked in a hushed voice of astonishment, eyes wide.

Hermione shook her head. "Not yet." She still refused to look at the other girl. "I just… It's for a school project," she lied lamely.

Ginny snorted. "Must be some project," she said, leaning towards Hermione. "Does George know you're planning to jump him?"

Hermione looked to her, aghast. "No!" She shook her head, and glared at Ginny darkly. "And if you tell him, I swear that I will kill you. It will be a very slow and painful death. And once I am done killing you, I will cut your body into little pieces, roast your flesh, and then feed it to my cat."

Ginny chuckled and held up her hands in surrender. "I'm not going to tell him. But you should really talk to him if you plan on sleeping with him."

Hermione continued to glare at her. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Ginny stood up, and then walked over to her dresser, opening a drawer. "I've got the recipe for a potion I can give you. The ingredients are simple and common, it takes about three hours to brew, and has a very distinct odor. If you're going to brew it, though, do _not _brew it in the house. Mum will know exactly what's being brewed, and she'll start asking questions." She took a sheet of parchment out of the drawer, and then closed it. She walked back to Hermione and handed her the parchment.

Hermione glanced at the parchment, and then back to Ginny. "What about charms? I've heard about those."

Ginny nodded. "But until you're seventeen, you can't cast magic outside Hogwarts, remember?" She sat back down on her bed. "If you really plan on sleeping with George, talk to him first. All of us got the talk and basic instructions before starting our third years, so he should know the charm."

Hermione nodded slowly, looking down at the parchment. Sure enough, the ingredient were simple enough, and she was sure that she had all the ingredients in her potions making kit in her trunk. The only question would be where she could brew it, if she couldn't do so at the Burrow. She supposed she could do so outside, like in a grove of trees that would hide her from sight. But there was still the chance that someone might smell it, or stumble across her, or disturb her in some other way.

Still, Hermione copied down the potion recipe, even if she didn't know where to brew such a potion just yet. She would figure that out later. True, she could probably use a Muggle method of birth control, like having George wear a condom, but she wanted the full experience. Other Muggle methods of birth control were either messy or required going to visit a doctor. She wished that Ginny had given her instructions on how to use the charm, though, as it wasn't that much longer until Hermione would turn seventeen and could cast it on her own. That wouldn't be until after she returned to Hogwarts for her sixth year, though. In the meantime, using the potion was probably the best way to go about things.

Eventually, Hermione opted to brew the potion in a grove of trees near the Burrow, with Ginny keeping lookout. Ginny told Hermione point blank that if anyone asked her, she was going to tell the truth that Hermione was brewing the potion. Thankfully, they weren't discovered, and Hermione was glad to find that there was enough potion brewed for seven doses.

Waiting until they could go to Diagon Alley was excruciating. There were times when Hermione wanted to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to use the Floo to go off to Diagon Alley on her own, but ultimately decided against it. She and George did owl one another regularly, and he and Fred would occasionally drop by the Burrow after closing time. When they did visit, they both looked rather tired after having put in long shifts. Their shop was very successful, enough to force them into hiring assistants, although they both still worked at their shop from open to close.

Sometimes when visiting, Hermione and George would go off into the garden to have a bit more privacy. Mrs. Weasley seemed aware that the two of them were involved, although Ron and Harry acted clueless as usual. Mr. Weasley just wasn't around often enough to notice her relationship with George, since he was busy with his work, although Mrs. Weasley had probably filled him in on things. Naturally, Ginny already knew of their involvement.

Even though they would go off into the garden for some alone time, Hermione did not bring up the subject of sleeping together. Of course, it was probably because George was often exhausted after having worked all day. He told her that the shop was open from nine until seven on weekdays, ten to seven on Saturdays, and ten to five on Sundays. Doing the calculations in her head, she realized he was working at least sixty-six hours a week, with no days off. Then she realized it was closer to eighty, when he pointed out that they also worked for one hour before opening and one hour after closing, to make sure that everything was in order. Shelves stocked, products inventoried, the place cleaned up, and all the general nuances of opening up or closing down for the night.

He did assure her that once the busy season of the summer holidays were over, that he and Fred would get their needed days off. The only reason why they weren't at the moment was because their full time employees needed further training before they could handle things on their own, and things were just too hectic to train them properly at the moment. That, and they'd recently had to fire someone for stupidly trying to skim off the register, so were needing to train their replacement, which meant they were extremely busy. Still, he told her, it was worth it.

Hermione hadn't realized just how much work George and Fred had actually put into their shop until then. And they were still trying to take the time to visit, when they should be sleeping. She hoped that they would get their full-time employees trained soon, so that they could take the well-deserved time off they needed.

Toward the end of July, as she sat next to George on a bench in the garden, leaning against him as he had his arm around her, Hermione decided it was time to figure out a location for them to be truly alone together. "Are you and Fred still sharing a room?" she asked, hoping that her question sounded innocent enough, and didn't betray the real reason why she was asking.

George shook his head. "No. Our flat has two bedrooms, thank Merlin." At Hermione's questioning look, he smirked. "Well, you know what Fred's like. You must remember the whole Angelina and Katie incident."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Is he still pretending to be you in order to two-time girls?"

He chuckled. "He knows what'll happen to him if he tries that. What I mean is he lacks any kind of seriousness when it comes to girls."

Hermione laughed. "Wow. One of the Weasley twins accusing someone of lacking seriousness, even if it is his twin. I think that's one of the signs of the apocalypse."

George nudged her slightly, laughing. "You know what I mean."

Hermione looked to him. "Does that mean that you're serious?" She wasn't sure why she asked that question. It just popped out.

He turned to her. "You don't know?"

She smiled and reached a hand to the side of his face. "I think you'd let me know if you weren't," she murmured, kissing him. She felt his strong arms wrap around her as he began to kiss her back.

After the kiss ended, she leaned into him further. "I wish I could visit you at your shop sometime. Are you connected to the Floo network?"

"Our flat is," he replied. "Well, it's connected to the private Floo network, so the general public couldn't Floo there. It is possible to get there from here, though." He looked over at her. "Why?"

She smiled, closing her eyes. She knew what she wanted to know. They could be alone at his flat, and she could get there by using the Floo from the Burrow. Now all she needed was the chance. "Because maybe I want to spend more time with you."

George chuckled. "Good luck convincing my mum to let you go off on your own like that."

"Who says she has to know?" Hermione replied, eyes still closed. "I could always sneak to the fireplace in the middle of the night, go to your place, and return in the early morning before she realizes I'm gone."

George looked down at her. "Or you could just try to convince her to let you go," he said. "I should be heading out soon, though. It's getting late." Reluctantly, Hermione moved positions so he could stand up. Smiling, he pulled her up with him, and wrapped her in his arms. "If you can manage, Sundays are the best days to visit. Not as busy, and we close earlier." He leaned in close to her, kissing her.

Hermione didn't really want to ask Mrs. Weasley if she could use the Floo to go to George's place so they could be alone, as she had a feeling that her reasons of wanting to do so would be rather apparent. She didn't want to lie, either, as Hermione knew she wasn't a very good liar.

By Saturday, the day they would all go to Diagon Alley for school shopping, Hermione still hadn't asked. She had an idea that maybe if Mrs. Weasley thought she was only going out on an innocent date with George, maybe that would be all right. But she'd have to talk to George first so they could get the timing right. Maybe it would be better to ask Mrs. Weasley when he was present.

She was glad when they had finally gotten all their school supplies, and could finally visit the twins' joke shop at Number 93 Diagon Alley. The window display almost hurt her eyes, it was so bright. It was just like them. Stepping inside, she could see that things were quite busy. The shop was packed with customers, making it difficult to get to the shelves. Unfortunately, she could see that George was rather busy at the time being, swarmed with customers. Trying to stall for time, Hermione noticed a display of 'Patented Daydream Charms' by the counter, and commented on how extraordinary the magic behind that must be. Fred offered to give her the box for free, and then led Harry onto the 'grand tour' of the shop.

Hermione got to be rather annoyed when, after they'd gotten to the shop, she hadn't been able to speak with George much to come up with plans for meeting up again. If it wasn't customers pulling him away, it was Harry being a prat for wanting to follow Draco Malfoy, who was skulking about Diagon Alley alone. Reluctantly, she followed him and Ron, as they were completely hopeless without her at times. This was one of those times.

Mrs. Weasley was frantic with worry when they returned from following Malfoy. They tried to pass it off as them having been in the back room, but she didn't believe them. Just when it seemed as though Mrs. Weasley was about to have them all leave, Hermione decided that it was better to ask to use the Floo now, rather than wait until they'd gone back to the Burrow and risk any inconsistencies about the 'innocent date' she'd be going on with George. She knew that with the increased paranoia, Mrs. Weasley was bound to try to verify it, and if George knew nothing about a date, that would put her plan to a screeching halt. Thankfully, George wasn't as swamped with customers as he had been, and came over to see them off.

"Er, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked, "is there any possible way for me to come back here sometime? On my own?"

Mrs. Weasley blinked and turned to her. "On your own? It's far too dangerous!"

"By Floo," Hermione said. "You know, from the Burrow to here. It's not like I'd be wandering the streets or anything." George raised an eyebrow and looked over to her.

Mrs. Weasley glanced between Hermione and George. "The two of you have been spending a lot of time together in the garden. Are the two of you seeing one another?"

"We are," George said.

"We were actually planning on going on an actual date," Hermione said, her face flushing slightly. She was aware that George was giving her a curious look. "We just hadn't come up with the details of when." She turned to George. "You said Sundays are best?"

George nodded and smiled. "Fred owes me. If you want, I can skive off around quarter to five tomorrow."

Mrs. Weasley frowned. "And what time would you be coming back?" she asked Hermione.

As much as Hermione would like to reply something like 'before breakfast' or 'don't wait up', saying something like that would be a very bad idea.

"I'll have her back by ten," George said. Hermione glanced over to him, and he smirked. "The next morning," he added cheekily. At the look on his mother's face, he laughed and held his hands out in front of him in surrender. "Relax, mum, that's a joke. I've got work the next morning. I'll have her back by ten tomorrow night."

That didn't really give them much time, but it was better than nothing. Mrs. Weasley did eventually relent, on the condition that George drop by to pick Hermione up, and that they check in once they safely arrived. She also let it be known that if Hermione did not return by ten sharp, that she would come looking for them. Hermione might not be happy with all the conditions, but it was better than nothing. She would finally have the chance to be alone with George, with no fear of being caught by anyone.

The next day, as the afternoon grew later, she double-checked the pocket of her jeans once more while getting ready in Ginny's room. She wanted to make sure she had the vial of contraceptive potion with her before she left. It was most effective if taken within an hour before having sex, although the effects would linger for six hours afterwards. Hermione had no idea how long it would take for them to actually get down to it, so figured it would be better to take it with her. Theoretically, she could take the potion right before leaving the Burrow, but she'd prefer to have it at its maximum effectiveness when she and George had sex.

Hermione contemplated her reflection in the mirror of Ginny's dresser while brushing her hair. In just a few short hours, she planned to lose her virginity to George. She had to admit that she was a bit nervous, but as she stared at her reflection, she had to admit that at the same time it was a thrilling concept.

A quick glance to the clock showed that it was a little past four thirty. She should probably head downstairs soon. After once last glance to her reflection, which showed that she was ready to go on a date, and one last check to make sure the vial was still there, she decided she was ready, and exited the room.

Two minutes later, she dashed back upstairs to retrieve her wand, which she had left on the dresser. She probably wouldn't need it, but it was always better to have it around just in case. Double-checking to make sure the vial was still in her pocket, she left the room once more.

George was a few minutes late when he arrived to pick Hermione up, but she wasn't too terribly surprised. Nor was she surprised to see that he was still wearing his magenta work robes, which were looking singed and smelling strongly like gunpowder. Then again, he always had the faint scent of gunpowder. "I'd really hate to be in Fred's position right now," he quipped as he stepped out of the fireplace, not bothering to brush himself off.

Mrs. Weasley frowned as she saw him. "George Weasley! Do you really think it's appropriate to go on a date looking like that?!"

He waved his mother off. "I'll change once we get to my flat. It was Fred's fault, anyway. He just _had _to bump into a box of Sparring Sparklers in the back room, which ended up setting off a nearby crate of exploding trick wands."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And I suppose you were just an innocent bystander."

George beamed. "I might have set off a few Blaze Bombs for good measure. Shall we?" He held a hand out to Hermione, who took it with a laugh.

After promising his mother that they would let her know that they reached their destination safely, and would return by ten o'clock, they Flooed to his flat above 93 Diagon Alley. Stepping out of the fireplace after George, Hermione glanced around the room. Against the walls there were boxes piled high, some of them with 'flammable' scrawled on the side. There was a couch and a chair next to a coffee table, which was littered with magazines. On the floor there were more magazines, as well as trick wands, popcorn kernels, dirty dishes, general clutter, and what appeared the be a glowing green blob of something that quickly scurried under the couch.

"This would be the living room, although we don't spend much time in here. We mainly use the space as a place to store extra stuff," George said.

Hermione glanced at the couch warily. "What was that glowing green thing that went under the couch?"

"What, Bob?" George smiled. "I have no idea what it is. All I know is that I dropped a Blast Pellet under the couch one day a few weeks ago, and next thing I knew I saw this strange glowing green thing under there when trying to retrieve it. So we named it Bob." He paused. "I think it might have been a piece of lettuce from a sandwich left under the couch and forgotten."

Hermione had to laugh at the absurdity of it. She laughed harder when she picked up one of the magazines on the floor and read the cover. "'_Busty Babes A Go-Go_'." She looked at him, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

George snatched the magazine from her and tossed it behind his shoulder. "That's Fred's."

She chuckled, looking at him like she didn't believe him in the least.

"What? It is," he protested. He glanced to the fireplace. "And before I give you the grand tour, mum'll have kittens if we don't let her know you're here."

Hermione had almost forgotten about that. She watched him as he grabbed a handful of Floo power and stuck his head in the fire, letting his mother know they were both safe, and hadn't been attacked by rogue Death Eaters or mutated leftovers.

After Mrs. Weasley was satisfied that they were both alive, George proceeded on showing her to the 'kitchen', which she discovered was really a dumping ground of dirty dishes, and various take-out containers.

Hermione made a disgusted face. "You guys are pigs, you know that?"

George shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's Fred's week to wash the dishes and take out the trash, the lazy sod."

She glanced to him. "There's more than one week's worth of dishes and trash piled up here," she pointed out.

He smiled. "I was on strike last week."

Hermione shook her head. The less time they spent in the kitchen the better. Before they left the kitchen, though, how gestured to a door that led to the staircase that went downstairs. He asked her if she wanted to tour the shop, or continued their tour of the flat. She opted to tour the flat, and they went back into the living room, where there was the entrance to a hallway.

"Straight down the hall is the bathroom," he said, leading her down the hall. "To the left is Fred's room," he stopped, and gestured to a door to their left. "I do _not _recommend going in there without a Bubblehead Charm firmly in place, by the way. To the right is my room," he gestured to the door on the right. "I'm guessing you want to see it?"

Hermione smiled. "Sure," she replied, trying to keep her voice casual.

She'd thought he'd never ask. Stepping into his room and seeing it, she was rather glad she saw the kitchen first. There were clothes strewn about the floor of the room everywhere. She supposed in one corner she saw something that might be a laundry basket overflowing with clothes that avalanched around it. There were, surprisingly, all of two lone shirts hanging in his closet, looking quite forlorn amongst the empty hangers and sea of fabric on the floor.

"When's the last time you did your laundry?" Hermione asked, scrunching up her nose.

"How do you do that?" George asked her in a tone where she couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. She really hoped he was joking. With George, it was sometimes hard to tell.

She walked up to him, chuckling, and pressed up against him. Reaching up to him, she pulled him down into a kiss. As he kissed her back, she slowly began to push against him, bringing them back towards his bed. She could feel her heart racing as she began to undo the clasps of his work robes along the way.

Their kiss was abruptly broken when the back of George's knees hit the foot of his bed, forcing him to sit down to maintain balance. He gave her a questioning look, and Hermione reached her hands under the folds of his work robes, and slowly moved her hands up to pull them off him. He let her remove his robes, which ended up on the pile of clothes on the floor. She stopped and scoffed as she saw that he was wearing a hideously bright yellow t-shirt, previously hidden by his robes.

"Are you sure you're not color blind?" Hermione asked, smiling.

George chuckled. "I told you. I like bright things."

Hermione smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders. She gently pushed him back, indicating she wanted him to lie down on the bed. He seemed to get the message, as he laid down, scooting up on the bed so his legs weren't dangling over the edge. Hermione crawled onto the bed next to him, half-laying on him with one of her legs between his. She leaned down to kiss him, moving her hands to the base of his shirt, and slowly pushing the fabric up his torso. As they kissed, George made a surprised sound that Hermione both heard and felt.

She pulled back from the kiss to take his shirt off. Once more, he let her remove the offending article of clothing, but gave her a questioning look again.

"I take it you have no intention on going out anywhere this evening?" George asked.

Hermione smiled as she moved her hands along his bare chest. He wasn't as exaggeratedly built as he was in her fantasies, but he was toned. She liked the feel of him, even if he was a bit tense. "Maybe later," she murmured, before wrapping him in a kiss once more.

George relaxed under her as they kissed, eventually bringing his hands up her side to cup her breasts. It was a bit disappointing that he did so over her shirt again, but she wouldn't be wearing it much longer if she had her way.

She pulled back from their kiss, deciding she'd be a bit bolder in exploring him. After all, she planned on giving herself to him, so it was only right that she become more comfortable about touching his body. She softly began to trail kisses down his throat and chest. As she flicked her tongue against one of his nipples, she heard his breath catch. Of course, that could possibly have something to do with the fact that she had also lowered a hand down to his groin, slowly massaging his growing hardness.

Eventually, she moved back up to kiss him, but continued to stimulate him through his jeans. She captured her lips with hers, tasting him. He brought a hand up her side, thankfully under her shirt this time, and brought it to her breast. She pulled back from him slightly as he made a surprised noise. "Yeah, I forgot to wear a bra," she murmured, even though from the tone of her voice it was obvious that it was not a matter of 'forgetting' anything, but rather choosing not to wear one.

George smirked as he locked eyes with her. "See? It's always those you least suspect."

Hermione leaned back down on him, kissing him. She moved the hand she had on his groin up slightly to the zipper of his jeans. She took a hold of the zipper between two fingers, and slowly slid it down. She felt George's breath catch once more, and he tensed up under her again. She moved her hand to unbutton his jeans.

George pushed her up off of him slightly, enough to break the kiss. "Just how far are you wanting to take things?" he asked.

Hermione smiled, and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "I want to feel you in me."

George closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Hermione took that as her cue to resume her attempts at unbuttoning his jeans. At least, until he caught her wrist in one of his hands. "We can't," George said, opening his eyes. He removed the hand he had under her shirt. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her off of him as he sat up.

Hermione sat up, looking to him with eyes full of hurt and confusion. "But why? Don't you want to?" she asked.

George nodded his head as he placed his hands on his lap. "I want to, yes. But I'm not ready to."

She stared at him, confused. "But if you want to…?"

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I don't think either of us are ready to go that far yet, no matter how much we may want to." He opened his eyes, and gazed into her eyes. "I'd rather our first time together to _mean _something. I'm afraid that if we have sex now, it wouldn't mean much more than an experience, and I want it to mean more than that."

Hermione placed one of her hands on top of his. "Who says it can't mean something? I have given it thought. I want you to be my first."

"Then why not wait?" he asked. He took in another deep breath. "I don't want to complicate things by getting too physical too quickly. I want to know everything about you." He paused. "Wait, why am I the one giving you the whole 'I think we should wait' speech? _You're _the one who's supposed to be giving it to _me_." He shook his head, smiling.

Hermione chuckled slightly. She was disappointed, yes, but was starting to understand where he was coming from. She even realized he was right, in a way. If they had sex right then, what would be the next step? "It's just frustrating…" she said, looking down. "How slow things have been going."

George nodded. "Well, this is all new territory to me. How am I supposed to know what you want me to do unless you tell me?" He paused. "I told you us Weasley men can be clueless prats at times," he said with a self-effacing grin.

Hermione looked to him. Once more, he was right about that. She hadn't really talked to him about how far she wanted him to go, just hoping he would do something, or else guiding him to do something. But new territory? "When you say this is new to you… What do you mean by that?"

"Just that," he said. "I've never really been involved with anyone before you. I've actually gone further with you than I have with anyone else before." Hermione gave him a surprised look, and he continued, "It's a little frightening at times, to be with a girl who I've dreamed about, and would never have imagined in a thousand years could possibly feel the same way about me. I don't want to scare you off or ruin what we do have by moving too fast."

Hermione looked down. "I didn't realize…"

"So what brought this on all of a sudden?" George asked. "When we were back at Hogwarts, you didn't seem like you wanted to go this far. At least you never said anything."

Hermione blushed. "It's… I just wanted things to go maybe just a bit further between us. And then I started having these fantasies…" She stopped. She couldn't continue. She already felt that her face was bright red. She didn't want to admit that she'd been fantasizing about them having sex since the beginning of the summer.

George raised an eyebrow. "You've been fantasizing about me?"

Hermione nodded, refusing to look at him, still blushing.

George chuckled. "Well, there's nothing wrong with a nice fantasy every now and then. I wish you'd _told _me about all this, but we're talking now, right?" He paused. "I'm not ready," he said, his voice once more taking a serious tone to it. "I don't know when I will be. I think… I want it to happen after I know that you're truly the one. That I'm madly in love with you, and you're madly in love with me, and that just sounds cheesy as hell."

Hermione smiled slightly. "That does sound rather cheesy," she said. Still, as cheesy as it sounded, he was right. She supposed she hadn't realized just how it was he cared for her. Her only experience before him was with Viktor Krum, who had been rather physical with his affections. It hadn't gone very far, and hadn't lasted very long, but that was the only experience she had to go by. She supposed, in a way, that she had been expecting George to want to be more physical because that was all she had really known. Except he wanted to get to know her and fall in love with her _before _they went too far. She realized what he meant when he said he wanted their first time to mean something.

She realized that she wanted it to mean something, too, and if they did it now, it would only be an experience, or fulfillment of a fantasy. It wouldn't hold much meaning at all.

She looked over to him. "George? Thank you." She smiled at him.

He smiled back, and then leaned forward, kissing her. Behind his kiss was the same gentle tenderness, but it was only then she realized how much caring was behind his kiss. He stopped her because he cared and respected her enough to stop her from doing something that she would someday regret. It was too soon for them to go that far with one another. She found herself admiring him even more for his refusal.

As they broke apart, Hermione grabbed George's shirt off the floor and handed it to him. "I never did get the grand tour of the shop," she said. "Will you show me?"

He smiled. "Anytime, Granger," he said, putting his shirt on.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up. He still insisted on referring to her as 'Granger', even after getting together. Deciding to lighten the mood, she smiled, and asked in an airy tone, "I am still allowed to fantasize about you, aren't I?"

George chuckled as he stood, his bright yellow shirt back on. "But of course. I'd be rather disappointed if you didn't, I think. But what model are you basing fantasy-me off of? Surely you don't know quite what I look like down there, unless you were the one who drilled a hole in the wall of the boy's shower room back at Hogwarts."

Hermione shook her head. "Er, I confiscated a magazine from Lavender and Parvati last year." She paused and gave him a curious look. "Wait, someone drilled a hole in the wall of the boy's shower room?"

George nodded, smiling. "You do realize that magazines like _Playwitch _give very unrealistic expectations of size, don't you? It's all camera angles, subtle Engorgement Charms, and slick editing."

Hermione blinked. "It is?"

He nodded and reached down to the floor, grabbing his magenta work robes. "It can make us real guys feel inadequate in comparison." He made a thoughtful face as he put on his robes, as thought he was debating something with himself, and muttered, "I suppose, so you're not too disappointed…"

She gave him a questioning look. What was he muttering about?

George smirked. "Seven and a half inches." He began walking to the door. "Ready for the grand tour?" he asked, smiling cheekily.

Hermione blinked, trying to process what he just said. The moment she realized that he must have told her how big he was, she turned bright red. "You measured yourself?!" she asked in a disbelieving tone.

He laughed. "What we guys do when we're bored and have a measuring tape handy is really none of your business. And I imagine you girls compare bra sizes, so what's the difference?"

Hermione shook her head, still blushing. It was true that there had been times when she'd overheard girls in the dormitories -- mainly Lavender and Parvati -- comparing their bra sizes, but that somehow seemed different. Still, it was just like George Weasley to measure himself like that. "You're incorrigible, you know that?" she asked.

He chuckled as he held the door open. "And that's one of the many reasons I'm so irresistible," he quipped.

Hermione laughed as she followed him out of his room.

She had seen the shop just the day before, but had mainly stayed by the display of Patented Daydream Charms when she had. It was strange, seeing the shop without customers in it, but that didn't mean it was quiet in the least. Not with Fred's loud swearing coming from the back room. At one point of time, there was a loud crash that came from the room, followed by a long stream of curse words that made Hermione blush. George cast a Silencing Charm in the general direction of the back room after that.

He showed her the room where they had a Defense Against the Dark Arts line set up, and she marveled at some of the products' ingenuity. Some of them could be outright useful in the dark times that were coming. Heading back to the main portion of the shop, he showed her a small section where they had Muggle magic tricks, and led her through the aisles, which were full of things like the Skiving Snackboxes they had worked so hard on. As they passed through the aisles, they came across bins of trick sweets, like Ton-Tongue Toffees, and the infamous Canary Creams.

Hermione stopped him from moving on past those bins. George gave her a curious look as she reached down into the Canary Cream bin and pulled out one of the wrapped sweets. "May I?" she asked, to which he nodded, still looking at her with curiosity and confusion.

She unwrapped the sweet and popped it into her mouth, much to George's surprise. She had acted like a prat, not having bothered to consult him about how far he might be willing to go with her. She hadn't stopped to consider his feelings, only focusing on her own desire. She had practically invited herself over to his flat with ulterior motives, and likely would not have stopped if he hadn't stopped her. And if he hadn't stopped her, then their relationship would quite possibly have been destroyed beyond recognition. Temporarily turning into a large canary was small penance for how badly she had almost bollocksed things up.

After she molted about a minute later, returning to normal, George chuckled and walked up to her. "You didn't have to do that," he said, holding her hands in his.

She smiled. "Yes, I did. You told me to give you one if you ever acted like a total prat. Well, I acted like a prat, so it's only fair. There shouldn't be any double standards."

George smiled, and leaned down to kiss her. As he kissed her, Hermione realized that she really could fall in love with him.


End file.
